Anti-war protest at BBC AGM

This Tuesday (19th July) 7pm, at the BBC Television Centre the Board of Governors are going to be holding their AGM ( http://www.bbcgovernors.co.uk/
whatsnew/jointheaudience.html ), and we are going to be there to protest at their failure to cover the truth about the war against Iraq.

From the run up to the war until the present day the BBC's coverage of the Iraq war and the role of our politicians has been lamentable.

    * Genuine antiwar voices have been absent from our screens,
    * Knowledgeable experts such as former weapons inspectors have been ignored,
    * The true costs in innocent lives resulting from our programme of sanctions  goes unmentioned.
    * The orgy of killing by our forces has been glossed over and sanitised,
    * Essential services such as water, power and hospitals have been, and continue to be, targeted
    * Iraq laws have been  rewitten and a political structure put in place which makes it virtually impossible for them to be changed.
    * The Iraqi media has been obstructed, censored and targeted.
    * Whole cities have had collective punishments which range from  medieval type sieges to the cities themselves being raised to the ground.
    * Illegal weapons such as napalm have been used and cluster bombs have been dropped indiscriminately in civilian areas.
    * Evidence that our Government planned to lie in order to commit this supreme crime of a war of aggression is reflected in broadcasts.

As I'm sure you know this list could go on. The contrast between the truth told by people like the independent journalist Dahr Jamail ( http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/ )and what passes for News from the BBC ( http://www.medialens.org/alerts/
04/041130_Protest_BBC_1.HTM and http://www.medialens.org/alerts/
04/041201_Protest_BBC_2.HTM ) is itself a war crime. It is only through truth and justice that we can find peace.

As George Orwell once wrote: ‘Freedom of the Press, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticize and oppose.' A healthy democracy needs a free and investigative media, willing to view our own government with the same scepticism it accords official enemies. Objective reporting requires balance; not only between warring factions, but also between the powerful and the powerless. Our media must be held to this standard, so that no body is hidden and no voice unheard.

Filmmakers Against War, the Cat's Dream and A Call to Light are going to conduct a series of news reports. We have video crews and actors who will be the reporters. The interviews will be a ‘to camera' reports outside the BBC TV centre at 7pm on Tuesday the 19th July the same time the BBC board of Governers are holding their AGM with an invitation only group of ‘viewers'.

The idea is to show them how its done and get some good footage for a documentary. We are also handing out leaflets and there will be banners and props (TV and armchair).

We would love your help, as actors, audience, camera people or script writers, especially if you're an expert on one or other of the subjects.

The topics we will be covering are basically

* Planning, preparing, and waging the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles.
* Targeting the civilian population of Iraq and civilian infrastructure
* Using disproportionate force and indiscriminate weapon systems
* Failing to safeguard the lives of civilians during military activities and during the occupation period thereafter
* Using deadly violence against peaceful protestors
* Imposing punishments without charge or trial, including collective punishment
* Subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
* Re-writing the laws of a country that has been illegally invaded and occupied
* Willfully devastating the environment
* Actively creating conditions under which the status of Iraqi women has seriously been degraded
* Failing to protect humanity's rich archaeological and cultural heritage in Iraq
* Obstructing the right to information, including the censoring of Iraqi media
* Redefining torture in violation of international law, to allow use of torture and illegal detentions